Is
Modernisation in Russia Possible? Interview
with Grigory Yavlinsky and Boris Titov by Yury Pronko,
"The Real Time" programme, Radio Finam, May
12, 2010
Photo: the Zolotaya Gora memorial cemetery in the village of Shershni / Source: Chelyabinsk Yabloko
To commemorate the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repressions, the Chelyabinsk branch of Yabloko organised a lecture on “The Last Route” of Stalin’s political prisoners. On 3 November, the listeners of the lecture, together with local historian Yuri Latyshev, walked along the “last route” of those sentenced to death during the Great Terror of 1937-1938 in Chelyabinsk.
The route began at 45 Rossiyskaya Street. Three people sentenced to death for counterrevolutionary activities in 1937-38 lived in the house at this address:
Photo: Olga Tsepilova, Ivan Levchenko and Dmitry Anisimov on Ligovsky Prospekt, 12 November, 2024. / Photo by the Press Service of the St. Petersburg branch of Yabloko
On November 12, on the eve of the anniversary of the murder of St. Petersburg anti-fascist Timur Kacharava, the Chair of St. Petersburg Yabloko Olga Tsepilova, Deputy Chair of St.Petersburg Yabloko Dmitry Anisimov, and member of the Regional Council Ivan Levchenko brought flowers and a photograph of the activist to the site of his murder near the Bukvoed bookstore on Ligovsky Prospekt.
Photo: Ivan Shchekin after the attack on him in the Romashkinsky forest / Photo by Sergei Utrishsky
The Regional Bureau of Moscow Yabloko sent an appeal to the chief of the Moscow region police Viktor Ishchenko. The appeal was signed by Maxim Kruglov, Deputy Chair of the Moscow Yabloko.
On 5 November, ” Ivan Shchekin, environmental activist and inspector of the non-profit partnership “National Committee for Environmental Safety”, saw workers cutting down trees in the Romashkinsky forest in the Odintsovo district of the Moscow region. The activist asked the workers to show documents allowing for the cutting of trees. The workers attacked Shchekin and beat him using shovels.
Photo: The Memory memorial in Chelyabinsk / Photo from open sources
Yaroslav Shcherbakov, Chairman of the Chelyabinsk branch of Yabloko, achieved this by sending multiple appeals to the regional public prosecutor’s office. The city authorities will have to remove two decommissioned anti-aircraft missile systems S-75 they installed by the monument of mothers grieving over their sons who died in the World War II. In addition, the city administration promised to repair the memorial cemetery by May 2025.
On 11 November, Yabloko’s deputy Olga Shtannikova presented Yabloko’s amendments to the 2025 budget at the meeting of the Budget and Finance Committee of the Legislative Assembly of St.Petersburg.
Based on the discussion in the Yabloko Bureau on 31 October, 2024
On 31 October, Yabloko held an open meeting of the Federal Bureau of the party, timed to coincide with the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repression. The topic of the large discussion was overcoming Stalinism. The following experts joined the discussion of the problem of studying the crimes of the Soviet state against citizens, as well as developing ways to overcome the growing popularity of Stalinist ideas in our time: lawyers Mikhail Biryukov and Marina Agaltsova, sociologist and Director of the Levada Centre Denis Volkov, co-founder of the Memorial group Viktor Kogan-Yasny, and human rights activist, son of a repressed person Alexei Nesterenko. Yabloko Chairman Nikolai Rybakov, Deputy Chairman of Yabloko Boris Vishnevsky and head of the Yabloko Analytical Centre Ivan Bolshakov also made speeches.
Donald Trump has become the 47th President of the United States. Well, such a president, it is ok… Before the 2016 elections, he pays to a porn star for keeping silence about their affair. And where does he pay it from? From the presidential election fund. Simply brilliant… And when he is then tried for it, it is, of course, “fighting against him”. A good example to follow…
And what is there so unexpected? Populism is becoming increasingly more attractive, and institutionalised (i.e., boring) politics, the politics of values and professional approach are out of favour today. Crude, flamboyant phrases continue to gain momentum in the world. If one said or wrote something stupid, but did it in a gaudy manner – one would get a lot of likes. They will discuss him. If one didn’t say it – well, sorry, it’s your own fault. And the fact that politicians, especially those re-elected, should report on the fulfillment of their previous promises – this sounds almost like nonsense, even probably funny to some.
Photo: Sergei Komandirov / Photo from social media
The Smolensk branch of Yabloko has contacted the central office of the Federal Penitentiary Service with a request to provide qualified medical care to political prisoner Sergei Komandirov, who is held in Penal Colony No 4 in the city of Torzhok. The mother of the political prisoner says that Komandirov has health problems.
What is happening around the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repressions
Lev Shlosberg’s blog post, 4.11.2024
18+ НАСТОЯЩИЙ МАТЕРИАЛ (ИНФОРМАЦИЯ) ПРОИЗВЕДЕН И РАСПРОСТРАНЕН ИНОСТРАННЫМ АГЕНТОМ ЛЬВОМ МАРКОВИЧЕМ ШЛОСБЕРГОМ ЛИБО КАСАЕТСЯ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ ИНОСТРАННОГО АГЕНТА ЛЬВА МАРКОВИЧА ШЛОСБЕРГА
18+ THE PRESENT MATERIAL (INFORMATION) IS PRODUCED AND DISTRIBUTED BY FOREIGN AGENT LEV MARKOVITCH SHLOSBERG OR CONCERNES THE ACTIVITIES OF FOREIGN AGENT LEV MARKOVITCH SHLOSBERG
The Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repressions is being transformed in Russia into a quasi-legal memorial day that has been officially established, officially not banned, but how the authorities mark it either has not been agreed upon under demonstratively wild pretexts or else is being stifled in the swamplike silence of dissemblance.
Photo: Olga Shtannikova / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service
The decision to fill the vacant mandate of a deputy of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg of the seventh convocation in connection with the early termination of the powers of deputy Boris Vishnevsky was made at a meeting of the Federal Bureau of the Yabloko party on 31 October. The documents on the candidacy of Olga Shtannikova will be sent to the Electoral Commission of St. Petersburg soon.
The 8th All-Russian Conference “Yablokov Readings” in memory of Acad. Alexei Yablokov, scientist, politician and founder of the Yabloko Green Russia faction, was held in St. Petersburg. Reports were delivered by scientists, journalists, leaders and activists of environmental non-governmental organisations, and leaders and activists of the Yabloko party.
On 30 October, Boris Vishnevsky spoke before his colleagues in the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg for the last time, as his deputy mandate had to be withdrawn due to his “foreign agent” status. He recalled that he became a deputy of the city parliament 13 years ago and was forced to resign as a result of an extrajudicial procedure organised by those who cannot fight opponents by political methods.
18+ НАСТОЯЩИЙ МАТЕРИАЛ (ИНФОРМАЦИЯ) ПРОИЗВЕДЕН И РАСПРОСТРАНЕН ИНОСТРАННЫМ АГЕНТОМ ЛЬВОМ МАРКОВИЧЕМ ШЛОСБЕРГОМ ЛИБО КАСАЕТСЯ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ ИНОСТРАННОГО АГЕНТА ЛЬВА МАРКОВИЧА ШЛОСБЕРГА
18+ THE PRESENT MATERIAL (INFORMATION) IS PRODUCED AND DISTRIBUTED BY FOREIGN AGENT LEV MARKOVITCH SHLOSBERG OR CONCERNES THE ACTIVITIES OF FOREIGN AGENT LEV MARKOVITCH SHLOSBERG
In 2007, a foundation stone was laid in Pskov in front of the Mironositsky cemetery, on the site of the future memorial in remembrance of political repression. Since then, each year on 30 October, a modest city-wide meeting has been held there. It has ever since then held its place for official events. It was first visited and opened by the mayor of the city. Events have included speeches by relatives of the victims, funeral liturgies, reading out the names of the deceased, a minute of silence, and the laying of flowers and wreaths. During 2020 and 2021, there was an interruption due to Covid-19 restrictions, after which time the meetings were resumed. Hence, the meetings took place once again in 2022 and 2023. This year, for the first time, the memorial event at the foundation stone was “not included as an official city event” as it turned out, by the city’s cultural institution, the House of Officers, traditionally responsible for the task of organising the event. The city authorities have slowly moved away from commemorating the victims of the 20th Century. Despite this, the Memorial Day for Pskov’s victims of political repression was still held.
Photo: Nikolai Rybakov at the Butovo shooting ground range, Moscow, 30 October, 2024 / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service
This week, Russia pays tribute to the victims of political repression. According to the Memorial Society, 4.5-4.8 million people were convicted for political reasons, of which 1.1 million were shot during the Stalinist terror in 1930s-1940s. Stalinism is not a distant history for our country. This is, in many ways, the essence of the current system of power. According to human rights organisations, there are currently 774 political prisoners in Russia.
The task of the Russian state is to assess the violent seizure of power by the Bolsheviks in 1917 and the crimes of the Stalinist regime. It is the duty of society to keep the memory of the broken lives of millions of repressed people and their families.
Photo: Boris Vishnevsky/ Photo by the Press Service of the St. Petersburg Yabloko
My work in the Legislative Assembly terminates on 30 October. I thank the people of St. Petersburg who trust me and continue to trust me
I categorically disagree with the decision of the Ministry of Justice to declare me a “foreign agent”. Understanding that it is virtually impossible to achieve justice and lawfulness in political cases today, I am challenging this decision in court and will continue to do so, protecting my honour and reputation.
On 25 October, on the anniversary of the creation of the Yavlinsky-Boldyrev-Lukin electoral bloc, which then turned into the Yabloko party, the Yabloko party office in Moscow hosted a screening and discussion of Grigory Yavlinsky’s interview for the documentary The Unfinished Time project. Young people, children of the 1990s and 2000s, as well as the older generation, eyewitnesses to the collapse of the Soviet Union, gathered in Yabloko to talk with Grigory Yavlinsky not only about past events, but also about the current situation in Russia and the world. The meeting was moderated by Deputy Chairman of the Moscow Yabloko Kirill Goncharov.
Photo: Nikolai Kavkazsky / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service
Nikolai Kavkazsky became the fourth representative of the Moscow branch of the party to be added to the repressive list of “foreign agents”. Previously, Svetlana Gannushkina, Chair of the Civil Assistance Committee, human rights defender and member of the Yabloko Federal Political Committee, Dmitry Muratov, Nobel Prize winner and a Yabloko member, and Andrei Morev, Deputy Chair of the Moscow Yabloko, were recognised as “foreign agents”.
Statement by the Regional Council of the Pskov branch of Yabloko, 19.10.2024
Photo: Conference of the Pskov regional branch of the Yabloko party on 19 October, 2024 /Photo by the Pskov branch of the party
Five searches have already taken place within the framework of the criminal case opened on the so-called violation of the law on “foreign agents”, in which Lev Shlosberg, Deputy Chairman of the Yabloko party, is a suspect: in the apartment of Lev Shlosberg and his wife, in the apartment of Lev Shlosberg’s 95-year-old father, in the regional office of the party and twice in the personal premises of people who have no relation to either Lev Shlosberg or the Pskov Yabloko.
Photo: Lev Shlosberg in the office of the Pskov Yabloko, 2023 / Photo by the regional branch of the party
On 18 October, police came to the office of the Pskov Yabloko for a search. The search was related to the criminal case on the violation of the law on “foreign agents”, in which the Deputy Chairman of the Yabloko party Lev Shlosberg is a suspect. All employees of the Pskov Yabloko were asked to leave the premises, except for Lev Schlossberg. Lev Schlossberg’s lawyer Vladimir Danilov arrived at the place.
UPD. During the search the police seized three personal laptops of employees, a telephone and Lev Shlosberg’s personal computer. Lev Shlosberg was not detained.
Photo: Vasily Neustroyev / Photo by the United Press Service of the Courts of St. Petersburg
Yabloko member and historian Vasily Neustroyev completely refused to admit his guilt on all the charges brought against him at the hearings of the St. Petersburg City Court, calling the criminal case political persecution, and everything that was happening as having nothing to do with either justice or common sense. Neustroyev also once again categorically denied his participation in the youth movement Vesna, which had been added to the register of extremists by the authorities. The next court session is planned on 23 October.
